6:Impossible
by FrivolousThoughts
Summary: Spider-Man faces an impossible challenge and finds himself questioning what he did to deserve such a fate. Set in a world where Marvel and DC have always co-existed.


**Author's Note:** The latest in my series of one-shots focusing more on what Spider-Man/Peter Parker manages to do even when situations seem their bleakest.

Just a small adaptation of the Amazing Spider-Man 'Coming Home' Arc, set in a world where Marvel and DC have always co-existed.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Spider-Man or Young Justice in any way, the character Spider-Man and all related content is owned by Marvel and Disney. Young Justice and all related content is owned by DC.

* * *

**Impossible**

So... much... pain...

His ribs were definitely cracked, his left arm had been torn from the socket completely and his jaw almost felt like it would shatter at any moment. How long had he been fighting this guy?

_Oh I don't know, maybe twelve hours?_

Twelve hours… he was surprised he'd managed to put up a fight for this long, the guy was relentless. This wasn't exactly the day Peter had prepared for but he should have, that Ezekiel character told him to run. His spider-sense was screaming for him to hide, practically begging for him to just hide for a year or two but it didn't matter. The guy had found him, he told Peter he had his scent and now he would always find him.

Times Square was in terrible shape, the two of them had used it as a boxing ring for about three hours of their fight. Of course it was early morning now and people had been crowded around the large battlefield for hours just watching and waiting until one of them went down, which was most likely going to be him. The teen in the red and blue spandex suit, it was only a matter of time.

_Can't even stand without swaying, hurts to breath. Okay… I just need to think of some kind of strategy, what the hell have I been doing for the past twelve hours? Trying to survive, that's what._

His thoughts were silenced by a thundering right hook, the bright white lenses of his mask cracked with the impact and he felt his lip burst soaking the material with a dark red stain. Peter could barely see, his vision partially blocked by two swollen black eyes but he could hear the surrounding crowd wince with each punch he received.

They couldn't even see how much he was hurting, his emotionless wide white eyes gave away no pain but his posture told them all they needed to know. The heart of New York's blood was smeared everywhere, he was standing in a pool of it. There would be no grinning behind the mask for him because Peter knew at the start of the fight that it was already over, his life… the things he had fought for in the red and blue suit. Did none of it matter just because some ancient vampiric creature was hungry? Was it always his destiny? To be the main course for some dude in a Goth coat?

_No, nothing's set in stone. I'm just getting warmed up._

Police officers stood back and just watched the scene unfold, they had learned by now that bullets did nothing to stop the man so there was nothing they could do. Innocent bystanders watched as Spider-Man lifted his fists and gave as good as he got only to be thrown into the side of a tour bus, what could they do if the web-slinger couldn't handle it?

_New Yorkers… my adoring public._

Spidey slowly crawled out of the tour bus and shakily got to his feet as pieces of his costume just fell to the floor, he practically felt naked but that was no concern to him. What he was concerned about was the condition he was in, common sense told him to get himself to a hospital as soon as possible. The spider side of him was telling him to run and flee in terror but the man side of him, the side that had been picked on for his entire life demanded that he stand. Stand and fight, stand up to people like him. Bullies who thought that they could take what they want by use of sheer power, well he wasn't about to die just because some ancient energies dictated it.

The tall man approached him slowly without a hint of caution or care whatsoever, was he even afraid of Spider-Man? Apparently not, no matter how many fights the kid had been in or how many unimaginable foes he had beaten against immeasurable odds he was sure this would be the one that got away. Unfortunately it wasn't the same as losing a game or something, the thing that was at stake here was his life. Or how Ezekiel had phrased it, his life energy.

Spider-Man stood hunched over slightly as blood poured from his open wounds, one arm was wrapped around his torso while his other shook with pain. His masked head lowered to the floor as birds tweeted overhead singing about their day to day life, they obviously couldn't understand what he was going through at the moment. Peter wished he could fly, then he could just soar off into the sky and not have to deal with the loser that was about to kill him.

"Why do you still fight the inevitable? I can assure you it's nothing personal" Morlun calmly informed Peter about the last twelve hours.

_Nothing… personal?_

Peter grit his teeth as his fists trembled uncontrollably, if he wasn't angry before then what the guy had said definitely just lit Spidey's fuse.

Thinking about it more carefully though the man that was about to deal him death really was a loser, like the granddaddy of all losers. Peter actually felt a little insulted that he wasn't dressed in a rhino costume or a scorpion suit.

Peter decided to deal with it the only way he knew how and cracked a smile as the man stopped in his tracks, "You could have at least dressed for the occasion. I mean a Goth coat? Seriously?" he mocked as blood dripped from his grin.

The tall man in the dark coat was silent at first but then his thin lips slowly began to stretch into a smile, "Charming to the very end" he uttered somewhat elegantly and began his advance again.

Spider-Man tilted his head to the side, "And I can see why you'd dress like Dracula. Vampires are the very in thing right now, wait… you don't sparkle do you?" he questioned as a strangled sound escaped his throat.

_Did I just laugh?_

The man, Morlun was it? He hadn't really been paying attention to the man's name; Peter was purely focusing on staying alive for the most part. As he made his way over to Peter the proximity allowed him to get a closer look at Morlun's features, the man was injured. Clearly not as severely as him but it was something, his nose was busted and several ribs had been snapped out of place. All of these injuries would have been a comfort if the man hadn't just kept walking like nothing even fazed him.

_Just who the heck does he think he is? Superman? Thor? The Hulk? I could use all three of them right about now, where is everybody again?_

Peter questioned himself but ultimately knew what had happened, Morlun had planned everything. Ezekiel warned him that he would be prepared and Spidey just didn't listen, the man had waited for the perfect time to strike. The Justice League was off-world, the Avengers were in Latveria and the Fantastic Four were in the Negative Zone. Johnny had actually tweeted him on where they were going but Peter rarely ever paid any attention to his Twitter feed, so was it really his time?

No friends, no allies… not even a jealous super villain hell-bent on killing Spider-Man himself? Heck, Peter would take anything right now.

But as Morlun was just about to wrap his thick fingers around his slim neck Peter heard the crowd cheer and suddenly hoped that backup had arrived, it may not have been what he was expecting but he didn't seem to mind. Spider-Girl flew in tagging Morlun straight in the face, the teenager may not have been as strong as Spidey but the punch was enough to leave Morlun stumbling.

She bounced around the man with such speed and grace that Peter himself was amazed, she really was something great. Anya threw out punches and kicks so fast Morlun looked completely dazed but that had been one of Spidey's first approaches and it only lasted for so long, just as Peter had predicted the man's thick arm snaked out and grabbed Spider-Girl by her long brunette hair.

His friend screamed and Peter knew what was coming next, the same thing had happened to Ezekiel and now he was going to take her from him just because he didn't have the strength to move.

_Like hell he is._

Spider-Man was so tired, everything felt as if it was being stuck with a red hot poker but he willed himself to move nonetheless. He moved himself with such speed that was on Morlun in a second, the teenager knew punching him would have no effect so he opted for something else a little more brutal. It wasn't his style but as he saw the life energy being drained from Anya something inside of him snapped, Spider-Man applied his grip to Morlun's own hand and twisted it with all of his might. Peter knew the guy could take a hell of a lot of punishment but applying over ten tons of pressure to one hand was enough to leave anyone in pain, Peter heard several bones snap in the man's hand and he wailed in pain. It was the first time in twelve hours he had given any indication that he had been hurt and Peter loved the sound of it, the vampiric creature loosened his grip and it gave Spidey just enough time to punch him hard enough to send him through a building's concrete wall.

Citizens cheered as Spider-Man delivered a bone shattering punch to the creature confirming the wall-crawler wasn't about to go down anytime soon.

Spider-Girl stumbled slightly but Peter caught her, "Am I glad to see you" he said greeting her all the while making sure the young teen was unharmed.

Anya smiled wearily, "I saw what was happening on the news. I came as soon as I could, the Team… they're—" she was about to explain to the battle torn hero but he swiftly cut her off.

"They're on a mission or something, I know. Morlun planned this, orchestrated it perfectly. Aside from you, it's just me and him and I don't know if I can win this Anya" Peter said keeping his voice low and quiet.

Spider-Girl was scared, she felt incredibly weak but figured it had something to do with the man grabbing her. It was as if he was draining her energy completely but she still managed to put on a hardened face as she gripped Spider-Man by the front of his costume.

"Do not say that! You're Spider-Man, you beat the impossible every day! I'm not going to sit by and watch as he kills you, we need a plan!" Anya said screaming into his cracked mask lenses.

Peter furrowed his brow and grabbed her hand removing it from his costume, "No. What you need is some medical attention, this isn't your fight. I don't care if I die but you can be damn well sure I'm not letting someone else die on my behalf, he broke my communicator so I need you to see if you can get in touch with anybody" Spider-Man asked pushing Anya to the side as the rubble and debris stirred indicating the next round was about to begin.

Anya's eyes widened beneath her half-faced mask, "What? Who?" she questioned panicking as the concrete exploded revealing the menacing form of Morlun.

Peter raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean who? She-Hulk, the Thing or Captain Atom… take your pick. Heck I'd even settle for the Wasp—!" he was cut off as his spider-sense burned through his skull and Morlun was on him.

Peter didn't know how much energy he had left in him but the guy he was fighting seemed like he could go on for another week or so, he managed to press on his speed and weave between each punch that was thrown. Spider-Man was definitely faster but if Morlun got a grip of him again then it would indeed be game over, Peter dodged a powerful blow and countered with a spinning elbow knocking Morlun back.

_Don't hold back, give it everything you've got. This is not the time to be pulling punches Pete._

He mused as he ran at the man screaming, Morlun held an angered look and tried slamming both of his large fist down on Spider-Man. Peter evaded the two-handed blow and kneed the guy to the face hearing bone crunch underneath the force, he knew not to stay in the same place for too long though as Morlun was faster than he let on. Ignoring the pain Morlun attempted to grip Spider-Man's leg but felt his finger grasp at nothing but air, Peter flipped over the man's broad shoulders spinning in mid-air. He gripped them and using his strength and 'stick 'em' powers as he liked to call them he dragged the man's back down with his momentum, Morlun was caught off guard by this and fell backwards feeling his back snap in several places. Peter quickly made a move and poured on the webbing making sure the guy couldn't move, if only for a little while to buy some time.

_Come on, think! What can you do that he hasn't already brushed off?!_

Peter thought the panicked voice in his mind painfully obvious, as Morlun was still recovering on the ground Spidey quickly glanced around looking for things to use in his surroundings.

_There!_

Peter quickly leaped over to the only thing anywhere near the fight was still relatively, a large tour bus. He'd never gone so big before because he'd never had to, the only similar instances he could think of were his fight with Firelord and the time he managed to take the weight of a building onto his back. But Firelord was different, Peter's speed combined with his agility and stinging strength allowed him to speed blitz the herald of Galactus until he was out cold. He'd tried that with Morlun but the guy always seemed just about snag his leg or some other part of his body, Spider-Man shook his head as he saw Morlun slowly recovering from his small trick.

_I don't have to win, I can settle for stalling him until somebody stronger comes along. I just have to hit him with something big, something he won't be expecting… this is gonna take a lot out of me._

Peter thought as he crouched to grip the tour bus, every muscle in his body tensed as he slowly began to lift it from the ground and into the air. The action wouldn't have been that much of a problem if he was in good condition but the fight with Morlun and all of his injuries made him feel as weak as a mouse.

Spider-Man lifted the bus high and slowly made his way over to Morlun, the heartless creature was too busy tearing out of Peter's steel webbing to notice the looming shadow over him. Peter smirked behind the mask meekly but was silently hoping his tactic would at least stall the man, he tensed as he prepped the bus for what he was about to do.

"Hey, ugly… it's nothing personal" Peter muttered as he watched Morlun's red eyes widen for the first time.

With possibly his last ounce of measurable strength Spider-Man slammed the entire vehicle down on Morlun hard, Peter could see the crowd look on with slight hints of fear but he didn't care. He was doing what was necessary to survive, the freak had put him through the most gruelling and exhausting feat of his life in the costume and he wasn't about to walk away from it unscathed. Without a hint of hesitation Spider-Man brought the bus back up and slammed it down again into the ground on top of Morlun hard, it was like that for a few minutes as Spidey continuously slammed the larch vehicle down into the ground ensuring that nothing was left of the thing that wanted to take his life.

Bits and pieces of the bus flew everywhere as Spider-Man continued to wordlessly drive into the concrete, the crowd was silent as the teenager made a last ditch effort to save his own life. He deserved it didn't he? To be able to live on just like everyone else did? The crowd was sure he did but they would never look at him the same ever again, they would no longer see him as the same happy-go-lucky vigilante who joked when faced with danger. They would see him as a survivor who did what was necessary to save his own life and truthfully could they really blame him?

Miraculously the mangled remains of the bus hadn't exploded but Spider-Man wasn't about to leave anything to chance, as he drew the what was left of the bus up for one final assault a soft hand was placed on his shoulder. Peter felt the contact graze his skin as his suit was torn beyond repair, he didn't register it as a threat and lazily turned his head to the side to look at whoever had intervened.

Peter's brown eyes widened beneath the cracked lenses of his red mask and he felt himself grow short of breath, the owner of the hand was a cop but that wasn't what had Peter so perplexed. The cop gave him a soft smile and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. The police officer was the spitting image of his late Uncle Ben and Peter couldn't bring himself to utter a word.

The cop did instead, "It's alright son. You don't have to fight anymore" was all he said as Spider-Man instantly dropped what was left of the bus onto the street.

Peter stopped to look and see if what he had done had worked, he felt a small tear sting his eye as all he could see of Morlun was a pile of dust. Did he kill him? Had he done what he swore never to do?

Peter didn't know and wasn't sure he wanted to know, "The guy was just randomly harming people. We're all lucky you came along when you did Spidey, you put up one hell of a fight" the officer attempted to console the vigilante as it was clear to the man that he was just a kid underneath the famous red mask.

Peter could do nothing but nod safe in the knowledge that he had once again saved lives, he slowly tilted his head up and saw Spider-Girl quickly rushing over to him from the crowd. The young girl pounced on him hugging him tighter than he would have allowed but he didn't seem to mind, Anya buried her head into his chest as Peter merely patted her back.

"It's alright kiddo, I'm okay" Peter muttered soothing any of her worries.

The girl turned her head to look up at him and Peter could tell she was on the verge of tears, "I thought… he almost—" she was cut off as Spidey shook his head.

She could see him crack a smile as his mouth was visible on account of his torn mask, "Almost… but not quite" he breathed out as Anya found the strength to grin despite what had just happened.

Spider-Man spoke up once again, "So… who'd you call?" he questioned.

* * *

**An hour later...**

Spider-Man recovered as he sat at the back of an open ambulance, several paramedics surrounded him bandaging him up carefully. His healing factor had already kicked in but he would still need a while before he was back to slinging around Manhattan, several heroes were scattered around the area helping out with clean up. Spider-Man and the guy he referred to as Morlun had really done a number on Times Square and as soon as everyone had gotten the call they had responded almost immediately, they just didn't expect the fight to be over and done with by the time they arrived at the scene.

The Fantastic Four were helping out moving much of the rubble and debris that littered the area, the Team were also on hand to help as well as a few Avengers. Superman was using his freeze breath to put out several fires working in sync with the New York Fire Department and as everything finally died down and the heroes were working well with each other Batman and Captain America moved over to Spider-Man to see how he was doing.

"How're you holding up son?" the red white and blue patriot spoke up as Spider-Man lazily tilted his head up to meet the patriotic hero.

He smiled beneath his mask as he addressed the veteran, "Hey. I'm doing okay sir" Peter joked as he gave the man a small weak salute.

Steve smiled as Batman spoke up, "That's good to hear. You really came through today Spider-Man, no civilian casualties have been recorded and while there was some collateral damage you managed to escape with your life. Good job" Bruce droned as Peter smiled, it was always an uplifting day when he received a compliment from the Batman.

Spidey snapped his head up with a sudden realization, "Wait! Morlun, I—did I… kill him?" he asked afraid of the answer he would receive.

_Can I really live with myself knowing I took someone's life?_

Peter didn't know but his thoughts were interrupted as a newcomer joined the conversation, "Allow me to explain Spider-Man" Doctor Reed Richards cut in as he walked over to the three heroes.

"You see after consulting with Doctor Strange we have reason to believe that this 'Morlun' wasn't even alive to begin with, if you believe such suppositions he could be described as being undead. Walking the fine line between life and death and when the time came for him to replenish his energy once more he set his sights on you, he must have believed that you received your powers through some kind of mystical means" Mister Fantastic finished as Batman nodded.

Bruce took over, "As to how you managed to beat him he clearly wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of time you kept fighting for. He didn't expect you to be as strong as you were and eventually he perished because you wouldn't allow him to feed" the billionaire explained resulting in a firm nod from the leader of the Fantastic Four.

Peter let out a small sarcastic cheer, "Well yippee for me I guess" he quipped as the one and only Superman slowly came in to land by the group of conversing heroes.

"You continue to surprise us Spider-Man, I'm glad to see that you're alright" the Man of Steel smiled as Spidey nodded only finding the strength to give him a shaky thumbs up.

_I did it, I'm alive… I'm alive. I think I'm gonna take a couple of days off though._

Peter thought smiling underneath his obliterated mask, the only thing he felt like doing after the entire ordeal was sleep. The man just needed to sleep for a little while and so he drifted off knowing he was safe in the hands of friends and fellow heroes, one thing was for sure though. Peter Parker would have one hell of a story to pass down to his kids one day as once again the Amazing Spider-Man had beaten immeasurable odds.


End file.
